


Episode 4: Not Your Concern

by PitoyaPTx



Series: Clan Meso'a [4]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Clan Meso'a, Clan Ordo, Clone Wars era, Gen, Mandalorian, Mandalorian Culture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-19 22:52:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17610566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PitoyaPTx/pseuds/PitoyaPTx
Summary: "I like my caf like I like my grenades: effective." ~JiikThe boys learn that if you don't want to lose something, always remember to shut the door.





	Episode 4: Not Your Concern

Before Beon could react, Cara was under the table with her hands over her head.   
“They’re here!” she whimpered, “They knew you killed her! They know everything!”  
“Calm down, sweetheart,” Beon said softly, quietly lifting his helmet from the counter.   
Fent punched the holotable controls and dismissed Jiik’s image, slowly bending over to retrieve his helmet from beside the sofa. Above them, something was sliding across the roof as if it was on all fours.   
“Doesn’t sound like a person,” Fent whispered, helmet secured and hand on his blaster, “At least-”  
Beon put a finger to his visor as he entered the room, listening as the dry shuffling above them grew closer and closer to the front door. He pointed to Fent and then to the left side of the door. Sliding to the right, Beon looked back at Cara still wide eyed but silent as she cowered under the table. He gave her a thumbs up but her expression only became more fearful. Fent cocked his blaster, holding his breath as the sliding above them stopped. A numbness crept across his shoulders as if whatever was up there could see them. That would be impossible, he told himself, not even a Jedi could see through walls. Maybe a droid? That could explain the multiple legs. He was well aware of the local wildlife, and whatever was up there wasn’t making any sort of growl or hiss or any variety of animalistic noises. Reaching behind him, Beon shut off the main light, casting both the entryway and the kitchen into darkness. An unnatural silence filled the house, drowning out even the hum of the water tank. Cara felt her heart leap into her throat as a thin line of light slid across the floor as the hunters slowly opened the front door. Even with it now fully ajar, the creature above them hadn’t stirred. Just as Fent made to step out, the creature moved ever so slightly. The hunters paused, listening for which direction it was headed, but the night grew still once more.   
Beon toggled his helmet-to-helmet comm and motioned for Fent to flank him, blasters drawn, out into the night. Fent scanned the ground, but other than the shadow of the house and antenna cast in front of them, there was nothing to be seen.   
“I don’t like this,” he muttered, tensing up with each step from safety.   
“On the count of three,” Beon gripped his blaster tighter and took a deep breath. “One...two..th-”  
A scream-like growl pierced through the night, startling both hunters before they could fully turn. Fent rounded first, barely catching sight of the dark blur as it pounced on him and landed a surprisingly hard blow to his helmet despite the creature feeling rather light. Beon made to grab their attacker around the middle, but it rolled away and stood on two legs. As he scrambled after it, a blue light shot across the gap between them and his world went dark…. 

The noonday sun did its best to bake both hunters into the ravenous sands they’d fallen into. Fent was the first to re-awake, immediately pulling his helmet off and rubbing his neck. He sat up slowly, feeling the world spin around him; as he squinted in the harsh light, he felt a painful tug to his upper lip. One touch told him his nose must have bled most of the night and maybe into the day. Not sure how that happened, he thought, they only punched my helmet. To his left, Beon was slowly stirring, a bright purple bruise on his lekku where it’d been crushed between his helmet and the ground. He threw his helmet away and looked down at the disk adhered to his chest. As he pried it off he felt a week shock to his fingertips despite his gloves which should have protected him. Tossing it away, he looked over at his comrade already sweating buckets.   
“Let’s get out of the heat,” Fent pushed himself onto his knees and stood, “Maybe we can-”  
“Cara!” Beon shot up, ignoring the throbbing from his lekku, and rushed into the house.  
Fent followed a moment later, both helmets in hand. Inside, he found Beon with his hands on his head staring at the empty kitchen. Cara, the pectoral, and the bowl of soup, were gone. The Twi’lek felt his stomach lurch; there were no signs that Cara struggled with the intruder which made no sense. When they left her, she was terrified and believed the assailant to be a Black Sun enforcer coming to avenge Leata’s death. On top of that, why incapacitate he and Fent but leave peacefully with Cara?   
“Do you think she’s..”   
Beon shook his head, “I don’t want to think about that,” he moved back towards the door, shut it, and pulled the holotable to the center of the room. 

“And neither of you got a good look at her?” Jiik scratched his side lazily, sipping a fresh mug of caf.   
Both hunters shook their heads.   
Jiik rolled his eyes over the mug, “Guess the sand fried your brains as much as your sense of respect.”  
Fent opened his mouth to retort, but Jiik cut the air with his hand.   
“No matter. The target is down and your job is done,” he continued, his eyes burning under the heavy glaze, “Now get the bioscan, dispose of the body, and head back to the compound. A Republic scout group came too close for comfort. Jiik out.”   
“But Car-and he’s gone,” Fent sat back against the wall, perturbed by their mentor’s tone.   
Beon didn’t speak for a while, thoughts racing across his face.   
“I mean…that tech she hit you with, that’s our stuff right? If she’s mando’ade can’t we just asked about Cara?” Fent offered, a touch of hopefulness in his voice.   
“It...can’t hurt,” Beon finally said, standing up, “I’ll check the guild logs, see if we can find who else would be in this area. Maybe...she’s alright. One of us wouldn’t murder a helpless kid.”  
Fent nodded and yawned, “You do that. I need to freshen up from my sand nap.”   
He turned down the hallway, and just as he disappeared around the corner, a juvenile smile cracked through Beon’s concern.  
“Heh..maybe a nice bath will improve your respectfulness.”  
Fent’s laugh echoed down the hall.   
“Joke’s on you. My ma’s been saying that for years!” 

“How do you feel?”  
Cara pulled the blanket tighter, not used to the cold of deep space..or space in general. Though her curiosity wanted to glue herself to the nearest window, her fear kept her huddled up in the sleeping quarters on a oddly uncomfortable bunk.   
“I..I thought I knew them,” she buried her face into the folds, tear tracks still caked her cheeks, “I thought they were good people..”   
Aviila put an arm around her, “Not everyone who does good things is a good person. Sometimes they do those things to trick you.”  
“But-”  
“Hush,” she said sweetly, pulling the girl close, “You’ll be much safer with my people.”   
“W-what will they do with me?” Cara swallowed the urge to sob, still clutching the blanket tight, “I..I’m not tough like you.”  
“Kad blesses each person with their own strength,” Avilla replied with an affectionate squeeze, “We will just have to find yours.”   
“And if you don’t?”  
The Twi’lek gave her another squeeze before getting up. With her breastplate off, Cara noticed the scars and bruises in her deep green skin reminding her of an odd form of camouflage patterning. Reaching the door, Aviila looked over her shoulder with an expression Cara couldn’t read.   
“We will.”


End file.
